. - 

QRNEY GENERAL 

OFTEXAS 

October 6, 1958 

Honc;rable Ralph T. Green Opinion No. WW-510 

Director 

Texas Commission on Higher Re: Is the specific prior 

Education approval of the Commis308 W. 15th Street sion required for Texas 

Austin 1, Texas Woman's University to 

establish the proposed 

Dear Mr. Green: program in nursing? 

At present, the Texas Woman's University offers, and 

prior to September 1, 1956, offered a degree in nursing in its 

College of Nursing. During the freshman year and during onehalf of the senior year, each student is on the campus in 

Denton, Texas. During the intervening tuo and one-half years, 

the student is in resident clinical training in the Dallas 

County Hospital System, The maxi'mum number of students who 

can be trained in Dallas has been reached, Without additional 

clinical facilities, the nursing program cannot be enlarged or 

expanded to meet the need for additional trained nurses. 

In view of this limitation in the Dallas facilities, 

it has been proposed that arrangements be made with the Texas 

Medical Center, Inc. of Houston, Texas, to furnish facilities 

for clinical training in Houston so that more nurses can be 

graduated. The question presented here is whether or not the 

expansion of the nursing program by the use of the Houston 

facilities, in addition to the Dallas facilities, constitutes 

a "new degree program" within the meaning of Section 11 of the 

Act creating the Texas Commission on Higher Education. 

The Texas Commission on Higher Education was created 

by Acts 54th Legislature, Regular Session9 1955, page 1217, 

Chapter 487. Sections 6 and 11 of said Act provide in part: 

I, The Commission shall establish rules and 

regulations not inconsistent with and limited to, 

carrying 'out the provisions of this Act. 

11 * 0 0 No new department, degree program, or 

certificate program shall be added at any Statesupperted college or university after September 3, 

1956, except by the specific prior rpp~aval by the 

Commission, 0 0 mll 
- . 

Honorable Ralph T. Green, page 2 (Ww-510) 

Effective January 13, 1958, and pursuant te the 

authority contained in the' Act to establish rules and regulations, the Commfssien adopted REGUL$TION NUMBER ONE in 

which degree program.was def&ned as, + D a the pattern ef 

academic requirements which the institution sets and which 

students must satisfy as the basis fer the institution to 

award a particular degree." New degree program was defined 

as, "* 0 .,any degree program which was not autherlzcd and 

available as an offering af the institution en September 1, 

1956 0 a n"o 

Ne change in the ,pattern ef academic requirements for 

the nursing degree is contemplated. The Houston facilities 

weuld be the same type as the Dallas facilities, The use ef 

additlanal facilities of the same type weuld be an enlargement 

or expansion. Thus, since ,the pattern =sf academic requirements 

would remain the same, and since the proposal involved here is 

actually an expansion ef an existing "degree program", there is 

no new degree program. 

Prior to the adoptisn ef REGULATION NUMHER ONE defining these terms, Attorney General's Opinion WW-10, dated 

January 29, 1957, went intb the question of the application of 

the Act to a prmpesal by the Agrticultural and'Mechaaica1 College of Texas to establish and operate in Arlington a graduate 

engineering division of the Agricultural and Mechanical College, 

using the facilities of Arlington State College. There, the 

proposed offering was designed to meet the needs of a limited 

group in a particular area at the campus of another college. 

The proposal would establish a new extension program since it 

was not being offered off-campus at the time. We held that the 

proposal constituted a "new degree pregram." If the degree 

program had been offered off-campus from a time prior to 

September 1, 1956, until the proposed offering at Arlington, 

our opinion would have been different. The clinical phases of 

the nursing program of the Texas Woman's University have been 

taught off-campus from a time prier to September 1, 1956, until 

the present, 

We cenclude, therefore, that the use of the facilities 

of the Texas Medical Center, Inc. by the Texas Woman's University is merely an expansion of an existing degree program and 

dsas not csnstitute a new degree program within the meaning of 

Section 11 and dmes net require the specific prier approval by 

the Texas Commissien en Higher Education. 

The scepe ef this epinian is necessarily limited to 

the question presented and deeanst pass on any ether aspect ef 
Honorable Ralph T. Green, page 3 

the proposed arrangement between 

(w-510) 

the University and the Center. 

It should be noted, however, that Section 11 of the Act also 

provides that, "The Commission shall order the consolidation or 

elimination of programs where such aG%ion is in the best interest of' the fnstitutions themselves and the general requirements 

of the State of Texas, ~ Q m"O 

SUMMARY 

The specific ppior approval of the Texas 

Commission on Higher Education fs not required for the Texas Woman's University 

to use the facilities effered by the Texas 

Medical Center, %nc:+in,:f%s collegiate 

nursing program, since the same does not 

constitute a new degree program within the 

meaning of Section 11, Senate Bill No. 145, 

Acts 54th Legislature, Regular Sessfon, 1955, 

Chapter 487, page 1217. 

Sincerely, 

WILL WILSON 

Attorney General of Texas 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

Geo D P. Blackburn, Chairman 

Houghton Brownlee, Jr, 

Wayland C. Rivers, Jr. 

Rfchard B. Stone 

Grundy Williams 

REVIEWED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL 

BY: W. V. Geppert